Linkless cartridge feed system

ABSTRACT

A cartridge feed system for use in connection with automatic guns which utilizes a pair of rotating drums adjacent respective breech openings of the gun. Each drum carries a plurality of radially arranged cartridges held in multi-cartridge clips. The cartridges are fed one at a time into a selected breech opening by a feed mechanism activated by the reciprocating movement of the bolt carrier of the gun and by a spring-loaded feeder-adapter adjacent the breech. An indexing system allows the drums to be automatically selectively rotated to bring new clips into position adjacent a breech opening.

United States Patent Stoner 1 Aug. 15, 1972 LINKLESS CARTRIDGE FEED SYSTEM [72] Inventor: Eugene Morrison Stoner, 2292 N. Carriage Lane, Port Clinton, Ohio 43452 [22] Filed: Aug. 1, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 850,315

Related US Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 736,703, June 13, 1968, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. ..89/33 D, 89/33 SF, 89/33 B, 89/135, 89/137 [51] Int. Cl ..F4ld 9/02 [58] Field of Search ..89/33, 33 D, 33 MC, 33 SF, 89/33 A, 33 AB, 33 AC, 33 AD, 33 AA, 33 B, 33 BA, 34, 135, 136, 137, 138; 42/1 E [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 681,439 8/1901 Carr ..89/33 D UX 924,732 6/1909 Carey ..89/33 A UX 2,192,677 3/1940 Hoagland et a]. ...89/33 A UX Anderson et al.89/33 AD UX 3,021,762 2/1962 Soderqvist ..89/33 AC ux 3,331,281 7/1967 Jafvert ..s9/33 A ux 3,340,771 9/1967 De Meiss ..s9/34 x 3,387,536 6/1968 Kelly et al. ..s9/33 AD x 3,501,996 3/1970 Lipp et al. ..s9/34 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 10,622 1907 Great Britain .39/33 1) Primary Examiner-Stephen C. Bentley Attorney-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross & Simpson [57] ABSTRACT A cartridge feed system for use in connection with automatic guns which utilizes a pair of rotating drums adjacent respective breech openings of the gun. Each drum carries a plurality of radially arranged cartridges held in multi-cartridge clips. The cartridges are fed one at a time into a selected breech opening by a feed mechanism activated by the reciprocating movement of the bolt carrier of the gun and by a spring-loaded feeder'adapter adjacent the breech. An indexing system allows the drums to be automatically selectively rotated to bring new clips into position adjacent a breech opening.

15 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAUB 1 5 i972 SHEET 1 OF 7 INVENTOR. 0654 5 Maze/say Sip/viz Q4 ATTORNEYS PA'TENTEmus 15 I972 3.683. 743

saw u or 7 INVENTOR. [06 611/6 Mme/s a/v 57mm? 'vd ATTORNEYS LINKLESS CARTRIDGE FEED SYSTEM CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of my earlier application, Ser. No. 736,703, filed June 13, 1968, and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to armaments and more particularly to a novel system of feeding cartridges to the firing mechanism of a gun.

2. Prior Art One of the major problems encountered with automatic rapid fire guns is the supplying of ammunition to the breech mechanism of the gun. In hand and shoulder guns, this is often accomplished through the use of a clip which may be spring-loaded and which holds a relatively small number of cartridges or shells. While this system may work satisfactorily with semi-automatic guns, the necessity of removing the spent clip and inserting a new clip after a relatively few cartridges have been fired makes the use of the clip system undesirable in rapid-fire automatic guns such as machine guns and automatic cannons.

These guns, which may have firing rates of hundreds of rounds per minute, require a high-speed feed of large numbers of rounds. Heretofore, it has been known to use webbed belts containing loops in which the ammunition is stored or inter-fitting metallic links in order to provide a steady flow of ammunition to the gun. These webbed belts and chains of links, while working satisfactorily under ideal conditions, are, in many instances, the major cause of gun misfire under adverse battlefield conditions. Further, their use requires a large amount of storage space and careful handling and feed devices in order to adequately protect the shell.

In connection with automatic cannons which use the chain of links, it is necessary to provide chute mechanisms to direct the movement of the ammunition to the gun. Further, because the links are designed to disintegrate when the shell is forced out of the interfitting links, working of the guns not only causes the spent shell casing to be ejected from the gun, but also the disintegrated links, thus further cluttering the area around the gun.

A further disadvantage inherent in the prior art gun feed systems arises from the difficulty of sealing off the interior of the gun-carrier from the exterior atmosphere. In modem-day warfare, it is desirable to shield the persons in the gun-carrier, such as a tank or other vehicle from the external atmosphere hazards such as gas, radioactivity and germs. However, the necessity of using an opening and closing breech mechanism in the automatic gun and the requirements of ammunition feed to the breech mechanism make it extremely difficult to seal the gun and the ammunition feed and supply system from the internal atmosphere of the vehicle.

These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, which provides clip-mounted ammunition stored radially in a rotating drum adjacent the breech mechanism of the automatic gun. The clips of cartridges are loaded into the drum with the projectile pointing towards the center point of the drum. The

drum can be sized to hold any desired number of clips, and the clips can carry any desired number of cartridges.

The drum is positioned with respect to a feederadapter adjacent the breech opening so that each clip may be aligned therewith directly to the side thereof. Spring-loaded feed pawls are carried by the drum above each clip. The feed pawls are carried by a slidable member which has one feed pawl for each cartridge in the clip. Non-movable, spring-loaded retaining pawls are also carried by the drum below each clip to prevent reverse movement of the cartridge. As each clip is indexed to the feed position opposite the feeder-adapter, the slidable feed pawl carrying member is engaged by a driving arm connected through a gear train and rack and pinion to the bolt carrier of the gun. In this manner, as the bolt carrier moves in recoil, the feed pawls are moved axially in the drum to move the cartridge.

The movement of the cartridge by the feed pawls forces the inboard cartridge out of the clip into the feeder adapter. The cartridge is forced between two sets of opposing spring-loaded rollers by the feed pawl. As the center point of the cartridge passes the opposed rollers, the cartridge is thrust into position to be rammed by the bolt of the gun. After the cartridge has been thus positioned, two spring-loaded backup plates move into position adjacent the cartridge to prevent it from being knocked out of the chamber under the striking influence of the bolt.

As the last cartridge in each clip is fed from the drum, a sensing switch is actuated to open the firing circuit, thus stopping the gun in its open or seared position. The same switch also energizes an indexing system to rotate the drum, thereby bringing the next clip into position adjacent the feeder-adapter.

A second breech opening is provided on the opposite side of the gun and a second drum is rotatably mounted adjacent thereto to feed ammunition to the gun. The second drum is phased with respect to the first drum so that only one drum at a time is operatively associated with its feeding mechanism for feeding ammunition to the gun.

Control circuits are provided to selectively feed the gun from either of the two drums and to select ammunition positions in each drum so that more than one type of ammunition may be loaded into and fed from each drum. Circuits are also provided for selectively indexing specific drum positions into the position to feed the gun and into positions to load the drum. The foregoing apparatus includes means for indicating all operational states and positions involved in loading and feeding ammunition. The apparatus further provides indications when a clip is empty and indications as to the amount of ammunition available in each drum.

A further advantage inherent in my invention is the adaptability of a gun equipped with the invention to automatic defensive systems. Because the invention provides immediate automatic access to large amounts of ammunition, a system so equipped, when once loaded, needs no further human attention until the ammunition has been exhausted. For this reason, the system can be adapted into remote control defensive systems,

Although the invention will be hereinafter described in connection with an automatic cannon, it is to be understood that the invention is equally adaptable to weapons of smaller calibre such as machine guns.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method of storing and feeding ammunition to an automatic gun which ammunition is stored in clips arranged in a rotatable drum adjacent the gun.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a feed mechanism for supplying ammunition stored in clip form in a rotatable drum adjacent a gun breech mechanism.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a feed mechanism for selectively supplying ammunition stored in clip form in a plurality of rotatable drums adjacent a gun breech mechanism.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide apparatus for automatically and selectively indexing a plurality of ammunition storage drums for feeding an adjacent gun breech mechanism and for loading the drums.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an ammunition storage and feed system for automatic cannons accommodating a large amount of ammunition fed rapidly to the gun while allowing the gun storage and feed mechanism to be isolated from the internal atmosphere of a vehicle mounting the gun.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide apparatus for selectively feeding three or more types of ammunition to an automatically operated gun without disengaging the feed mechanism of the gun.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of certain preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a tank turret equipped with the ammunition storage and feed device of this invention with portions broken away to show underlying portions.

FIG. 2 is a diametrical cross-sectional view of the storage drum of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a multi-cartridge clip used in this invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary axial cross-sectional view through the storage drum and adjacent gun.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view illustrating schematically the positive cartridge-stripping feed system of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the gun illustrating a portion of the feeder-adapter of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view illustrating a sensing mechanism used with this invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view illustrating the ammunition feed mechanism of this invention.

FIG. 9 (on page 1 of the drawings) is a partial sectional view of the cartridge-stripping mechanism and the feeder-adapter of this invention taken generally along the line IX-IX of FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 (on page I of the drawings) is a fragmental schematic perspective view of the drive mechanism for the drum.

FIG. 11 (on page 5 of the drawings) is a fragmental view of apparatus for indicating the fire and load positions by means of indicia on the edge of a drum.

FIG. 12 (on page 5 of the drawings) is a pictorial view of the control console equipment for selective operation of the gun.

FIG. 13, including FIGS. 13a and 1317 taken together. is a schematic diagram which illustrates circuitry which may be employed to control the operation of the drums.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates a vehicle 10 such as a tank equipped with a revolvable turret 11 from which projects the barrel 12 of an automatic cannon 13. The drum-like ammunition storage and feed device 14 of this invention is located adjacent the automatic cannon l3 and is supported by trunnions 15 which also support the automatic cannon. In this In this manner, as the cannon is elevated and depressed, the device 14 moves with it. In the view, a portion of the device 14 is broken away illustrating cartridges l6 stored in the device 14.

As is shown in FIG. 2 in cross-section, the device 14 consists of a cylindrical drum or barrel 17 which may be of two sections 18 and 19, of differing thickness. The section 18 may project exteriorly of the turret 11 and is therefore thicker than the section 19 which remains on the interior of the turret so that the section 17 may be armor-plated. An access door 20 is provided through the section 19 and is attached thereto by a hinge 21.

The interior of the drum 17 contains a metal chambered rotatable drum or spider 23 having a central axial core 24 from which the drum radiates. Radial chambers 25 extend from the outer diameter of the drum 23 radially inwardly and terminate in spaced relation to the core 24. In the embodiment illustrated, there are 20 such chambers 25 equidistantly spaced around the entirety of the drum. The chambers 25 are arcuately tapered and are dimensioned to receive cartridges 26.

The axial length of the drum is dependent upon the number of cartridges which it is desired to store in each chamber 25.

FIG. 3 illustrates ten cartridges 26 retained in a common clip 27 in side-by-side relationship. In the embodiment illustrated, if it is assumed that the drum has an axial dimension sufficient to hold 10 cartridges in each of the 20 chambers 25, then the storage capacity of the drum is 200 cartridges. The cartridges 26 have a circumferential groove 28 adjacent the base 29 thereof. The clip has fingers 30 depending from the sides which are adapted to extend into the groove 28 thus clamping the cartridges 26 between the fingers 30 and the base 31 of the clip 27. The groove 28, in addition to allowing the cartridges to be secured in the clip 27, can also be used in ejecting spent cartridges from the gun and is therefore a standard groove.

The cartridges 26 are removed from the clip 27 by side stripping, that is the cartridges are moved longitudinally out of the end of the clip 27. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the drum 17 is located adjacent the breech mechanism 33 of a gun 34 such as the cannon 13 and the axial end of one of the chambers 25 is aligned with the cartridge-receiving opening 35 of the gun 34, the cartridges 26 may be side stripped out of the clip 27 through a side aperture 36 in the drum 17 into the cartridge-receiving opening 35 of the gun 34.

In this manner, the ten cartridges 26 stored in each chamber 25 can then be successively side stripped from the clip 27 into the gun 34. Thereafter, rotating the inner drum 23 one-twentieth of a revolution will align the next successive cartridge-filled chamber with the opening 36 in the end of the drum 17 and the opening 35 of the gun 34 to allow the in-feed process to continue.

Modern automatic guns, such as that illustrated in FIG. 4, can be loaded from either side. It is therefore contemplated that a device 14 can be arranged on both sides of the gun 34. In-feeding of cartridges to the gun will take place from only one side at a time, and in order to prevent feeding from both sides, one device will be kept out of phase with the other so that in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, when the inner drum 23 is aligned with the opening 36 in the side of the outer drum 17, the inner drum 230 on the other side of the gun 34 will be out of phase with the opening 36a in the outer drum 17a. The use of a common drum indexing drive will assure that this out-of-phase relationship is always maintained. The out-of-phase relationship may also be obtained for feeding from one drum while loading the other by a skip index technique hereinafter described.

In all other respects, the drums on either side of the gun 34 may be identical. Alternatively, it may be desired to have one drum smaller than the other in axial length, so as to provide room alongside it for the positioning of a coaxial gun such as a machine gun 37 illustrated in FIG. 1. The machine gun may also be equipped with a drum ammunition storage and in-feed identical in function with that for the gun 13 which drum may be coaxial with the storage drum 23a.

Of course, filling the chambers 25 with different types of ammunition in different chambers allows the gunner to select the desired type of ammunition simply by indexing the drum 23 to the point where the chamber 25 containing the desired ammunition is adjacent the opening 36. As shown in FIG. 1, the gun can be entirely sealed by a cover 38 with an integral discharge chute 39 which discharges spent shell casings to the exterior of the vehicle 10. Therefore, because the drum l4 entirely surrounds the inner drum 23 and moves with the gun 13 when it is elevated or depressed, closing the loading door allows the entire gun system including the ammunition storage to be sealed from the interior atmosphere of the vehicle 10.

As is shown in FIGS. 2 and 9, each of the chambers contains a double series of spring-loaded pawls carried by the sides 41 and 42 of the chamber 25 above and below the cartridges 26 carried by the clips 27. One set of pawls 43 is stationary and prevents the backward movement of the shells 26. The other set of pawls 44 is carried by a feed slide 45 best illustrated in FIG. 5. The feed slide 45 is free to move axially in the chamber 25. Axial movement in the chamber 25 of the slide 45 in the direction of the opening 36 will cause the feed pawls 44 to press against the cartridges 26 in the clip 27. Each cartridge is pressed by its own feed pawl 44. This pressing of the cartridges will result in side movement of the cartridges in the clip thereby allowing the cartridges to be stripped from the clip at the opening 36.

The gun 34 has a bolt carrier 47 which moves back and forth in recoil and counter-recoil as the gun is fired and has a sloping groove 48 on the side thereof. A rack 49 has a projection 50 riding in the slope 48. Therefore,

as the bolt carrier 47 moves back and forth, the rack 49 is moved up and down. The rack 49 has teeth 51 which engage a gear 52 in a standard rack-and-pinion arrangement. The resultant rotating movement of the gear 52 is used to drive a gear train 53 to which is attached a toothed arm 54. The toothed arm 54 extends axially alongside the drum through an exterior housing 55 as shown in FIG. 1. The arm 54 terminates in an arm 55 which extends radially into the drum 23. The drum 23 has a radial groove (not shown) near the end to receive the arm 55. A groove 56 in the end of the feed slide 54 receives the end of the radial arm 55. In this manner as the bolt carrier moves in recoil and counterrecoil, the feed slide 45 is reciprocally moved in an axial direction with respect to the barrel. Thus, the side stripping of the clips 27 is accomplished through a mechanical linkage operated by the recoil of the gun. The linkage illustrated is such that as the bolt-carrier 47 moves in recoil, the feed slide 45 is moved towards the opening 36. Inasmuch as each feed slide 45 for each chamber 25 has the groove 56, indexing the drum 23 one-twentieth of a revolution will bring the next groove 56 into position with respect to the radial arm 55. Also, in this manner, when one of the drums 23, 23a is out of phase with the openings 36, 36a, the respective radial arm 55 will not be engaged in a groove 56 and therefore movement of the bolt carrier 47 will not result in movement of the cartridges contained in that drum.

In order to provide room for the bolt mechanism of the gun to freely operate, the end wall 60 of the drum 18 is spaced from the side 61 of the gun 34 as shown in FIG. 4. A feeder-adapter 62 is used to move the cartridge 26 from the opening 36 in the end wall 60 into position to be rammed by the bolt 63 of the gun. The feeder-adapter further acts to prevent the cartridge 26 from being forced back into the drum when it is struck by the bolt 63.

As shown in FIG. 6 and 8, the feeder-adapter consists of two cooperating assemblies. The assembly shown in FIG. 6 consists of a pair of spring-loaded doors 64 which are pushed open inwardly towards the bolt 63 by the movement of the cartridge 26 through them into a position axially behind the firing chamber 65.

It is not necessary that the cartridge 26 be thrust into position coaxially with the firing chamber 65 inasmuch as the front 68 of the cartridge is tapered and the walls 69 of the gun barrel axially behind the firing chamber 65 are also tapered. Therefore, the action of the bolt 63 ramming against the base of the cartridge 26 will cause the tapered projectile 68 of the cartridge 26 to be carmned into position in the firing chamber 65 by sliding movement against the tapered walls 69. In order to aid in guiding this movement, the doors 64 of the feeder-adapter 62 are also tapered, as is shown in FIG. 4. In this manner, as the bolt 63 moves forward, striking the base of the cartridge 26 to ram it into the firing chamber 65, the cartridge is guided into position by a sliding movement against the taper of the doors 64 and the tapered face 69 of the barrel of the gun.

The inner drum or spider 23 is indexed by an electric motor drive through a Geneva mechanism and gearreduction drive. This is illustrated in FIG. 10 where the shaft 70 is driven by an electric motor housed in the control box 71 shown in FIG. 1. The shaft 70 rotates a shaft 72 through a Geneva mechanism drive 73 which allows for motor override after the motor has been deenergized by the switch 74 actuated by the lip 75 on the shaft 70. The Geneva mechanism also provides a positive index in that the shaft 72 is allowed to turn only a given distance with each full revolution of the shaft 70. The Geneva mechanism also provides a method of preventing any back turning of the shaft 72. A gear drive 76 is attached to the end of the shaft 72 which drives a geared band 77 provided circumferentially around the end of the spider 23. The shaft 72 may be a common shaft driving both the drums 23 and 23a. The common shaft 72 is illustrated in FIG. 1.

The motor driving the shaft 70 may be selectively actuated through a control mechanism which allows any given one of the chambers 25 to be positioned either adjacent the opening 36 for in-feed to the gun or adjacent the access door for refilling of the chamber. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, an automatic switch 78 may be provided to automatically index the drum 23 when the last cartridge 26 is side stripped out of the clip 27 in the chamber adjacent the opening 36. The switch 78 has a tensioned spring arm 79 which terminates in a conical projection 80 received through an opening 81 in the clip 27 adjacent the end thereof. As the last cartridge 26 is side stripped out of the clip 27, the tension arm 79 moves the cone 80 through the opening 81 thus activating the switch. The projection 80 is conical so that indexing of the spider 23 will automatically push the projection aside out of the opening 81. Whenever a cartridge 26 is in the clip 27 the projection 80 will be prevented from extending completely through the opening 81 and the switch 78 will not be actuated. In this manner, an automatic indexing system is provided when the last round is stripped from the clip. Further, the switch 78 can also be connected to the firing circuit of the gun 36 to open the firing circuit, thus stopping the gun in its open position with the cartridge last side stripped from the now-empty clip in a position to be rammed into the firing chamber where it will remain while the drum indexes to bring the next clip into position adjacent the opening 36. At that point, the switch 78 will no longer hold the firing circuit open and the cartridge already in the gun will be fired, the recoil of the bolt-carrier after firing activates the feed slide in the new chamber adjacent the opening 36 to begin side stripping of its clip. This mechanism also provides for burst control in that it automatically stops the gun as each clip is stripped for a period of time necessary for the drum to index to its next position.

The loading door 20 for each drum is provided in a spaced-relationship with respect to the breech opening of the gun. For example, this spacing may be equal to any number of shell positions circumferentially of the gun and in the embodiment illustrated herein is considered to be two positions away from the in-feed position. This spacing may be either leading or lagging with respect to the direction of rotation of the spider 23 and for convenience of drawing, it is here considered two positions before the in-feed position. The in-feed position will be hereinafter referred to as the fire position and the door position will be hereinafter referred to as the load position.

Inasmuch as there is a spacing between the fire and load positions, each of the drums may be provided with indicia (FIG. 11) to permit a visual determination of the ammunition positions. Each spider 23 may be provided with a flange 23a adjacent its outboard end having indicia 23b carried thereon at the ammunition positions. Other indicia 23c and 23d are carried on a fixed portion 19a of the housing to indicate which ammunition position is adjacent the breech and which is adjacent the loading door. This indicia may be most advantageously utilized when the control console equipment is not visible by the operator due to remote mounting.

The fire control apparatus for governing automatic and selective operations of the ammunition feeding mechanism described above may be provided by ap paratus illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13, FIG. 13 including FIGS. 13a and 13b. This apparatus may be provided in a plurality of housings 90, 91 and 92 in the form of consoles which are interconnected by cables 93 and 94, and which are further connected to gun-mounted electrical equipment by way of cables 95, 96 and 97. The housings and 91 include a plurality of push-button selection switches and a plurality of lamps, generally referenced 100, which provide selective control of the drums and indications of the position and conditions of the drums.

The housing 90 includes a plurality of push-button switches 101-120 associated with the fire position and a plurality of push-button switches 121-140 associated with the load position of the right drum 14b. Each clip position on the housing has a fire position switch and a load position switch associated therewith and interconnected with each other in parallel, the parallel combination being connected in series with a position control relay, relays 210-239. Therefore, switch 101 and switch 139 are connected in parallel with each other and in series with relay 210 to control the positioning of the associated spider 23 of drum 14b to the fire position. Since the load position is spaced two positions from the firing position, the drum is also automatically indexed to place the position associated with switch 139 adjacent the breech. Switch 101 and switch 121 are physically positioned in housing 90 such that depression of switch 121 will place ammunition position associated with switch 101, that is two positions from its associated fire position, adjacent breech opening. Operation of any of the push-buttons will therefore position the associated ammunition position adjacent the breech opening of gun or adjacent the load position of the drum in accordance with the desired selection.

Each of the position control relays has associated therewith a plurality of contacts for controlling the positioning of the respective drum. The relay 210, for example, includes a set of contacts 210-1 which are closed upon the energization of relay 210 to supply a holding ground thereto by way of closed switch contacts 261. The relay 210 includes another set of contacts 210-2 associated with the powering circuit of motor which are operated to supply an energizing ground potential thereto. Therefore, upon the operation of a push-button, the associated relay latches by way of one set of contacts and provides operating potentials to its associated motor by way of another set of contacts. The motor operates a Geneva drive mechanism 73b as hereinbefore described to rotate the associated drum, in this case, drum 14b. The drum carries a plurality of contact operators (not shown) for operating a plurality of commutator contacts 260 and 290 as the drum rotates the operators relative these contacts. The operators may be, for example, rollers or permanent magnets. Operation of contact 261 breaks the holding circuit of relay 210 and the relay is de-energized opening contacts 210-2 and stopping operation of motor 190. Operation of contact 291 closes a powering circuit for lamp 371 beneath or adjacent push-button 101 and a corresponding lamp associated with pushbutton 121 to indicate that the drum has been positioned to the selected position. The commutator operators may be provided in the form of permanent magnets and the commutator contacts in the form of normally open or normally closed contacts, as required. Proper positioning of the operators relative the contacts and the utilization of a Geneva drive, prevent overshoot of the motor in response to the commutation signals.

Attention is invited that the lamp operating commutator, in this example commutator 290, will momentarily close the powering circuits to lamps 371-389 associated with push-buttons 101-120 and to corresponding lamps associated with push-buttons 121-140. Therefore, as the apparatus is indexing, these lamps are momentarily operated to provide a positive indication that indexing is in progress.

A separate but similar circuit is provided for operating motor 200 to control the left drum 14a by way of push-button switches 141-160, push-button switches 161-180 and position control relays 240-259. Lamps 391-419, for example, provide the indications of indexing and positioning. Commutator apparatus 320 and 350 is provided to terminate positioning of the drum apparatus and to provide operating potentials for the aforesaid associated indicating lamps.

The operating ground potentials for relays 210-239 240-259 are provided on a selective basis by way of switch 510 having a movable contact 51 1 connected to ground for contacting contacts 512 or 513. Ground potential from contact 51 1 is applied selectively by way of contacts 512 or 513 and conductors 514 and 515, respectively, to the push-button and relay circuits. Connection of a ground potential to conductor 514 provides operating potentials to lamp 516 in housing 91 and to lamp 517 in housing 90 to indicate that drum 14a has been selected for firing. Similarly, connection of ground potential to conductor 515 provides operating potential to lamp 518 in housing 90 and lamp 519 in housing 91 to indicate that the right drum 14b has been selected for firing. Each of the drums is therefore selectively operable independently of the other for placing the ammunition contained therein adjacent the associated breech of the gun.

Switch 510 has a pair of spring-loaded positions 518 and 519 to which contact 51 1 is initially operable upon selection of a drum and from which contact 511 is biased back to the adjacent contacts 512 and 513, respectively. A momentary ground potential is therefore applied to contact 518 or 519 to control the connection of counters individually associated with each drum for maintaining a count of the ammunition stored therein.

The momentary ground potential supplied to contact 518 or 519 is effective to operate a relay 520 by way of a closed contact 521. Relay 520 latches by way of its contacts 520-1 and supplies a ground potential to the lower winding of relay 522 by way of contacts 520-2 and 522-2. Relay 522 operates at latches in its operated position by way of contacts 522-1x, where x denotes the first contact of a spring pile up to operate. Contacts 522-2 transfer to prepare relay 522 for the next impulse. The other winding of relay is in opposition to the first energized winding and therefore the next impulse will deenergize the relay. Relay 522 therefore constitutes a bistable circuit. Relay contacts 522-3 transfer to place a signal of the firing solenoid of the gun or a signal indicative thereof on a selected input of a counter 524a of housing or a counter 525a of housing 91 so that upon each firing such a signal subtracts one unit from the indicator of the counter associated with the selected drum.

Switch 510, additionally referenced the drum phase switch, and relay 522 have a further function in phasing the drum apparatus upon each selection so that the selected drum and the non-selected drum are maintained out of phase by one half position or one step of a Geneva drive. This is accomplished by the provision of contacts 522-4, 522-5 and 522-6y, where y indicates the last contact of a spring pile up to operate. Operation of contacts 522-4 and 522-5 prepare powering circuit for motors 190 and 200 while contacts 522-6y operate to provide ground potential to both of the aforementioned contacts. Both of the motors are operated by these ground potentials to rotate their respective drums. Each of the drive couplings between the motors and the drums is provided with a switch 740 and 74b, referenced in this manner since such switches may be provided by apparatus that is similar to switch 74 of FIG. 10. The Geneva drive mechanism operate to rotate a drum one ammunition position for each two steps thereof. Therefore, to phase-in a selected drum and phase-out the other drum switches 74a and 74b are coupled to their respective drive mechanism to extend the ground supplied over contacts 522-6y for one step of their respective drive mechanisms. Switch 521, or a pair of respective switches in series, is coupled to the driving apparatus for each drum to momentarily open the circuit to relay 520 so that the counter and phase control apparatus is reset for a subsequent re-phasing.

Attention is invited that below switch 101 there appears a lamp 461; this lamp also appearing above the counter and display circuits adjacent a relay 502. It has hereinbefore been described that switch 78 detects stripping of the last round of ammunition from a clip. This switch, or a switch similar thereto may also be employed to maintain a status indication as to whether ammunition is in a clip within the drums. Referring to the lower right hand portion of FIG. 13b, a switch 78 is provided to provide ground potential upon the side stripping of the last round of ammunition from a clip. This switch is provided in common, with diodes to prevent sneak paths, to a plurality of relays, such as relay 502, which are individually associated with each ammunition position and with an individual status lamp, such as lamp 461. Another commutator-type arrangement, preferably permanent magnet-operated switches, is provided in the form of switch 503 to extend such a ground through a closed contact 504 to operate relay 502. Relay 502 latches by way of its contacts 502-1 and closes contacts 505-2 to extend a powering circuit to lamp 461 to indicate that the last round has been stripped from its clip. A switch 503 only provides for the extension of a ground from switch 78 at the in-feed position adjacent the breech of the gun. All other such switches are open and the switch 503 also opens upon indexing of the drum. Relay 502, however, remains operated over its contacts 502-1 and lamp 461 remains lit until the particular ammunition position is reloaded. Upon reloading, lamp 461 may be extinguished and relay 502 may be de-energized by opening a switch contact 504. This switch contact may advantageously be incorporated in the mechanical construction of lamp 461 such that pressing of the lamp will momentarily open this contact. Of course, separate switches may be provided for this purpose.

Each drum is provided with a momentarily operating switch individual thereto and positioned within the opening of the door of each drum for controlling the addition of digits to the display counters 524a and 525a. These switches may be manually operated or positioned to be operated by a clip of ammunition as it is loaded into the drum. In FIG. 13b these switches are illustrated and referenced 527 and 529. Switch 527, for example, momentarily supplies a ground to operate a pulse generator 526, which in turn provides a series of pulses equal to the number of rounds of a full clip as addition signals to display counter 524a. Display counter 525a is similarly operated in response to a momentary closing of switch 529.

The two drums may be advantageously operated at the same time by their respective motors for in-feeding ammunition to the associated breech from one of the drums and for loading the other drum in that the two drums are out of phase. Assuming that the drum 14b is operating to feed ammunition to the gun either selectively under the control of switches 101-120 or by automatic indexing as hereinbefore described, a ground signal is provided to the push-button switches 101-120 and their associated circuitry by way of switch 510, contacts 51 l and 513 and conductor 515. Therefore, in order to selectively control loading of drum 14a, a drum load select switch 530 is provided to extend an operating ground potential to the control circuitry for drum 14a. Switch 530 includes a movable contact 531 connected to ground potential and two fixed contacts 532 and 533. Assuming the contact 531 is positioned to engage contact 532, ground potential is provided to the control circuitry for drum 14a by way of conductor 534 and diode 535 and its counterpart diode 536 prevent sneak paths between switches 510 and 530. The same ground potential on conductor 534 energizes lamp 537 associated with the housing 91 to indicate that drum 14a may be controlled for loading. The ground potential is also extended to a relay 538 to open contact 539 and extinguish lamp 516. The lighting of lamp 537 and the extinguishing of lamp 516 indicates that drum 14a is in a loading condition. This same ground potential is extended to an electromagnetic latch 540 for latching the door of drum 14b so that any inadvertent attempt to load drum 14b will not successful. Similar circuitry is provided in the form of lamp 542, relay 540 and its contact 541, and latch 543 associated with contacts 533 of the drum load select switch 530. With the provision of a sufficient opening of door 20 of the selected drum, loading may be accomplished while maintaining the drums out of phase.

From the above description it will be understood that a gun 34 which may be in the form ofa cannon 13 or a machine gun 37 or any other land, air or naval gun is fed from one or more rotatable drums or spiders 23 storing radially positioned multi-cartridge clips which are stripped laterally to thrust the cartridges into the breech opening 35 of the gun.

It will be further understood that through the provision of separate driving mechanisms and separate control circuits, each of a plurality of rotatable drums or spiders 23 which store radially positioned multi-cartridge ammunition clips may be independently and simultaneously controlled to both feed cartridges into the breech opening of the gun from one of the storage drums while another of the drums is being loaded.

It will be further understood that each of a pair of rotatable ammunition storage drums may be provided with supervisory apparatus for maintaining constant indications of the status of each ammunition clip and for maintaining a count of the ammunition available in each drum. It is clearly evident that in addition to providing a numerical counting of ammunition available, different types of ammunition may be loaded into the drums in accordance with a preset plan, and that such a plan may be manifest by the provision of indicia on the control console of the gun. Therefore, different types of ammunition such as armor-piercing AP high explosive HE and anti-personnel PR may be selectively loaded into and fired from the gun to provide a greater flexibility of operation.

What I claim is:

1. An ammunition storage and feed system for automatic guns having a cartridge-receiving opening which comprises: a rotatable member positioned adjacent the weapon, a plurality of circumferentially spaced axially extending radial chambers open to one end of the member in said member, said chambers receiving multi-cartridge ammunition clips, said open ends of said chambers selectively indexable to a position aligned with the cartridge-receiving opening in said gun, and actuatable cartridge moving means in said chambers moving cartridges stored in said chambers out of said drum and into the cartridge-receiving opening when actuated, said cartridge moving means including a plurality of spring-loaded feed pawls carried by a feed slide in said chamber, each chamber having an individual feed slide, at least one feed pawl on said feed slide for each of the cartridges received in the said multi-cartridge clips, said feed slide being axially movable in said chamber, and means for selectively moving said feed slide whereby the said feed pawls act against the said cartridges to move the said cartridges when the said feed slide is moved.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein spring-loaded stationary pawls are arranged in the said chamber opposite the said feed pawls adapted to prevent axial movement of cartridges stored in the said chambers in more than one direction.

3. The system of claim 2 comprising means for indicating the type of ammunition stored in said chambers and means for selectively indexing said rotatable member to align a given one of said open ends of said chambers in accordance with a desired type of ammunrtron.

4. A gun assembly comprising: an automatic gun having a reciprocating bolt which moves in recoil and counter-recoil, a cartridge-receiving opening adjacent said bolt, a rotatable drum having an end adjacent said cartridge-receiving opening, said drum having a plurality-of axially extending radial chambers therein, said chambers open to said end, said chambers communicating with the periphery of said drum, each of said chambers adapted to receive a plurality of cartridges held in a multi-cartridge clip, each of said chambers having a reciprocally movable feed slide therein, movable towards and away from said end of said drum, spring-loaded feed pawls carried by said feed slide, said feed pawls adapted to move cartridges stored in said chamber towards said end and into a feeder-adapter adjacent said end said feeder-adapter positioned between said end and said cartridge-receiving opening, stationary spring-loaded pawls associated with each of said chambers effective to prevent movement of cartridges stored in said chambers away from said end, said drum rotatable to bring said chambers adjacent the said feeder-adapter one at a time, mechanism connecting to said reciprocating bolt to the said feed slide in the said chamber adjacent the said feeder-adapter, said mechanism effective to transfer the recoil motion of the said bolt to the said feed slide to move the said feed slide towards and away from the said end, and said feeder-adapter effective to force cartridges inserted therein by the said feed pawls into the said cartridgereceiving opening and to prevent re-entry into the said drum of cartridges in the cartridges in the cartridgereceiving opening.

5. An ammunition storage and feeding system for automatic guns having a pair of opposed cartridge-receiving openings, comprising: first and second housings mounted on opposite sides of a gun adjacent respective ones of the cartridge-receiving openings, first and second cylinders rotatably mounted within respective ones of said first and second housings, each of said housings having an end wall adjacent an end of the corresponding cylinder and having a radially extending opening therein adjacent the corresponding cartridgereceiving opening, radial chambers extending axially in each of said cylinders, said chambers spaced around the entire circumference of said cylinders, said chambers open to the circumference and to said end of said cylinders for receiving a plurality of cartridges stored in each of said chambers and retained in clips common to the cartridges of the individual chambers, means for stripping the cartridges one at a time from a clip in a chamber of a cylinder aligned with the corresponding radially extending opening, means for rotating said first and second cylinders out of phase so that only the chambers of one of said cylinders at a time is aligned with its corresponding radially extending opening, and means for changing the phase relationship between said first and second cylinders to selectively feed ammunition from said first and second cylinders.

6. A gun assembly having an automatic recoiling bolt mechanism gun with a cartridge-receiving opening in at least one side of the gun, at least one drum having an end positioned adjacent said side, an opening in said end communicating to said cartridge-receiving opening, said drum having a revolvable member therein, said member having a plurality of axially extending radial chambers therein, said chambers open to said end, each of said chambers adapted to receive a plurality of cartridges retained in a multi-cartridge clip, means for stripping said cartridges in one of said chambers from said clip one at a time out of said member through said opening in said end and into the cartridge-receiving opening, means for intermittently selectively rotating said member to bring said chambers one at a time adjacent the said opening in the said end, indicating means for indicating which of said chambers is adjacent the said opening, selecting means for selectingly moving any one of said chambers adjacent the said opening whereby the said chambers may be filled with difiering types of ammunition and selectively moved adjacent the said opening to initiate firing of a desired ammunition type.

7. The gun assembly of claim 6 including an axially extending opening in said drum circumferentially spaced from the said opening in the said end, said axially extending opening dimensioned with respect to the said radial chambers to allow loading of said clips into said chamber and removal of empty clips therefrom. additional indicating means for indicating which of said chambers are adjacent the said axially extending opening and additional means for selectively indexing one at a time any one of said chambers adjacent the said axial extending opening.

8. A gun assembly comprising a recoiling bolt mechanism gun, said gun having at least one cartridgereceiving opening therein, a drum having an end wall adjacent said opening, a plurality of radially extending axial chambers circumferentially spaced around said drum, said chambers receiving multi-cartridge ammunition clips, means for rotating said drum, said chambers rotatable one at a time to a position adjacent said cartridge-receiving opening, means for stripping clip held cartridges from said one chamber into said opening, a reloading station for said drum circumferentially spaced from said cartridge-receiving opening, means for indicating which one of said chambers is adjacent said cartridge-receiving opening, a second means for indicating which one of said chambers is adjacent said reloading station, and a third means for selectively moving any selected one of said chambers adjacent either the cartridge-receiving opening or the reloading station.

9. The gun assembly of claim 8 including means for sequentially rotating the said drum to bring successive chambers adjacent the said cartridge-receiving opening when the last cartridge stored in the predecessor chamber has been stripped into the said cartridgereceiving opening.

10. The gun assembly of claim 9 wherein the means for indicating includes a plurality of illuminated switching means, one of said illuminated switching means associated with each one of said chambers, said switching means illuminated to indicate which one of said chambers is adjacent the cartridge-receiving opening and said switching means actuatable to actuate the said means for selectively moving.

11. The assembly of claim 10 wherein the said illuminated switching means includes a plurality of color differentiated illuminatable indicia, one of said indicia indicating which of said chambers is positioned adjacent the cartridge-receiving opening and another of said indicia indicating the cartridge filled status of the chamber.

12. The weapon system of claim 9 including automatic means for indicating the quantity of ammunition stored in the said chambers.

13. An automatic gun assembly comprising: an automatic gun having a cartridge-receiving opening, a cartridge storing chamber positioned adjacent to said opening, said chamber movable, said chamber containing a plurality of cartridge-receiving storage sections therein, each of said sections receiving a plurality of cartridges held in a single clip, means for stripping said cartridges from said clips one at a time from a given chamber and feeding said stripped cartridge to said cartridge receiving opening, at least three different types of cartridges stored in different sections, means for selecting one of said sections to be indexed to a stripping position adjacent the cartridge-receiving opening, means for indexing said selected section to said position, means for indicating which of said sections has cartridges stored therein, and means for indicating which type of cartridge is stored in which section.

14. The gun of claim 13 including additional means for indicating the total number of cartridges stored in the said storage container, said additional means functioning to keep a running total during operation.

15. The gun of claim 14 including a loading position for each of said sections, the said loading position spaced from the stripping position and means for indexing any one of said sections to said loading position selectively. 

1. An ammunition storage and feed system for automatic guns having a cartridge-receiving opening which comprises: a rotatable member positioned adjacent the weapon, a plurality of circumferentially spaced axially extending radial chambers open to one end of the member in said member, said chambers receiving multi-cartridge ammunition clips, said open ends of said chambers selectively indexable to a position aligned with the cartridgereceiving opening in said gun, and actuatable cartridge moving means in said chambers moving cartridges stored in said chambers out of said drum and into the cartridge-receiving opening when actuated, said cartridge moving means including a plurality of spring-loaded feed pawls carried by a feed slide in said chamber, each chamber having an individual feed slide, at least one feed pawl on said feed slide for each of the cartridges received in the said multi-cartridge clips, said feed slide being axially movable in said chamber, and means for selectively moving said feed slide whereby the said feed pawls act against the said cartridges to move the said cartridges when the said feed slide is moved.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein spring-loaded stationary pawls are arranged in the said chamber opposite the said feed pawls adapted to prevent axial movement of cartridges stored in the said chambers in more than one direction.
 3. The system of claim 2 comprising means for indicating the type of ammunition stored in said chambers and means for selectively indexing said rotatable member to align a given one of said open ends of said chambers in accordance with a desired type of ammunition.
 4. A gun assembly comprising: an automatic gun having a reciprocating bolt which moves in recoil and counter-recoil, a cartridge-receiving opening adjacent said bolt, a rotatable drum having an end adjacent said cartridge-receiving opening, said drum having a plurality of axially extending radial chambers therein, said chambers open to said end, said chambers communicating with the periphery of said drum, each of said chambers adapted to receive a plurality of cartridges held in a multi-cartridge clip, each of said chambers having a reciprocally movable feed slide therein, movable towards and away from said end of said drum, spring-loaded feed pawls carried by said feed slide, said feed pawls adapted to move cartridges stored in said chamber towards said end and into a feeder-adapter adjacent said end said feeder-adapter positioned between said end and said cartridge-receiving opening, stationary spring-loaded pawls associated with each of said chambers effective to prevent movement of cartridges stored in said chambers away from said end, said drum rotatable to bring said chambers adjacent the said feeder-adapter one at a time, mechanism connecting to said reciprocating bolt to the said feed slide in the said chamber adjacent the said feeder-adapter, said mechanism effective to transfer the recoil motion of the said bolt to the said feed slide to move the said feed slide towards and away from the said end, and said feeder-adapter effective to force cartridges inserted therein by the said feed pawls into the said cartridge-receiving opening and to prevent re-entry into the said drum of cartridges in the cartridges in the cartridge-receiving opening.
 5. An ammunition storage and feeding system for automatic guns having a pair of opposed cartridge-receiving openings, comprising: first and second housings mounted on opposite sides of a gun adjacent respective ones of the cartridge-receiving openings, first and second cylinders rotatably mounted within respective ones of said First and second housings, each of said housings having an end wall adjacent an end of the corresponding cylinder and having a radially extending opening therein adjacent the corresponding cartridge-receiving opening, radial chambers extending axially in each of said cylinders, said chambers spaced around the entire circumference of said cylinders, said chambers open to the circumference and to said end of said cylinders for receiving a plurality of cartridges stored in each of said chambers and retained in clips common to the cartridges of the individual chambers, means for stripping the cartridges one at a time from a clip in a chamber of a cylinder aligned with the corresponding radially extending opening, means for rotating said first and second cylinders out of phase so that only the chambers of one of said cylinders at a time is aligned with its corresponding radially extending opening, and means for changing the phase relationship between said first and second cylinders to selectively feed ammunition from said first and second cylinders.
 6. A gun assembly having an automatic recoiling bolt mechanism gun with a cartridge-receiving opening in at least one side of the gun, at least one drum having an end positioned adjacent said side, an opening in said end communicating to said cartridge-receiving opening, said drum having a revolvable member therein, said member having a plurality of axially extending radial chambers therein, said chambers open to said end, each of said chambers adapted to receive a plurality of cartridges retained in a multi-cartridge clip, means for stripping said cartridges in one of said chambers from said clip one at a time out of said member through said opening in said end and into the cartridge-receiving opening, means for intermittently selectively rotating said member to bring said chambers one at a time adjacent the said opening in the said end, indicating means for indicating which of said chambers is adjacent the said opening, selecting means for selectingly moving any one of said chambers adjacent the said opening whereby the said chambers may be filled with differing types of ammunition and selectively moved adjacent the said opening to initiate firing of a desired ammunition type.
 7. The gun assembly of claim 6 including an axially extending opening in said drum circumferentially spaced from the said opening in the said end, said axially extending opening dimensioned with respect to the said radial chambers to allow loading of said clips into said chamber and removal of empty clips therefrom, additional indicating means for indicating which of said chambers are adjacent the said axially extending opening and additional means for selectively indexing one at a time any one of said chambers adjacent the said axial extending opening.
 8. A gun assembly comprising a recoiling bolt mechanism gun, said gun having at least one cartridge-receiving opening therein, a drum having an end wall adjacent said opening, a plurality of radially extending axial chambers circumferentially spaced around said drum, said chambers receiving multi-cartridge ammunition clips, means for rotating said drum, said chambers rotatable one at a time to a position adjacent said cartridge-receiving opening, means for stripping clip held cartridges from said one chamber into said opening, a reloading station for said drum circumferentially spaced from said cartridge-receiving opening, means for indicating which one of said chambers is adjacent said cartridge-receiving opening, a second means for indicating which one of said chambers is adjacent said reloading station, and a third means for selectively moving any selected one of said chambers adjacent either the cartridge-receiving opening or the reloading station.
 9. The gun assembly of claim 8 including means for sequentially rotating the said drum to bring successive chambers adjacent the said cartridge-receiving opening when the last cartridge stored in the predecessor chamber has been stripped into the said cartridge-receiving opening.
 10. The gun assembly of claim 9 wherein the means for indicating includes a plurality of illuminated switching means, one of said illuminated switching means associated with each one of said chambers, said switching means illuminated to indicate which one of said chambers is adjacent the cartridge-receiving opening and said switching means actuatable to actuate the said means for selectively moving.
 11. The assembly of claim 10 wherein the said illuminated switching means includes a plurality of color differentiated illuminatable indicia, one of said indicia indicating which of said chambers is positioned adjacent the cartridge-receiving opening and another of said indicia indicating the cartridge filled status of the chamber.
 12. The weapon system of claim 9 including automatic means for indicating the quantity of ammunition stored in the said chambers.
 13. An automatic gun assembly comprising: an automatic gun having a cartridge-receiving opening, a cartridge storing chamber positioned adjacent to said opening, said chamber movable, said chamber containing a plurality of cartridge-receiving storage sections therein, each of said sections receiving a plurality of cartridges held in a single clip, means for stripping said cartridges from said clips one at a time from a given chamber and feeding said stripped cartridge to said cartridge receiving opening, at least three different types of cartridges stored in different sections, means for selecting one of said sections to be indexed to a stripping position adjacent the cartridge-receiving opening, means for indexing said selected section to said position, means for indicating which of said sections has cartridges stored therein, and means for indicating which type of cartridge is stored in which section.
 14. The gun of claim 13 including additional means for indicating the total number of cartridges stored in the said storage container, said additional means functioning to keep a running total during operation.
 15. The gun of claim 14 including a loading position for each of said sections, the said loading position spaced from the stripping position and means for indexing any one of said sections to said loading position selectively. 